Why do you say such harsh words? These people have done such things, are you still afraid of what she says?

Mrs. Huo felt that her life was too difficult. Her daughter was sent to live in the manor, and her son and daughter-in-law were dissatisfied with her. Her husband was also dissatisfied with her. She had done nothing wrong, but she felt sorry for her daughter.

"What's the point of doing this now?" Mrs. Huo asked. "They can't possibly think you're good, and they can't possibly help you get well."

"Don't talk nonsense," said Uncle Huo, "They didn't attack us."

"I didn't do anything to you, but you treated me like this." Mrs. Huo was very disappointed.

"What do you think?" Mr. Huo was speechless. What was the point of Mrs. Huo saying these words at this time?

The Jingning Marquisate did not deal with the Huo family. That was because they had no intention of doing anything to the Huo family. They felt that the Huo family was useless.

"..." Mrs. Huo looked at Uncle Huo's cold eyes and knew that this matter could not be changed.

The people in the Jingning Marquis' Mansion had no intention of inviting the Huo family over, nor did they think about maintaining the so-called superficial friendship.

This time, Uncle Huo was determined to handle this matter properly. If he let his wife go out, he was afraid that it would offend people, which would not be a good thing.

At the Marquis of Jingning's residence, Princess Zhaoyang sat over there. The others were very respectful to her and the Marquis' wife. Liu Yulian preferred reading; she didn't know how to socialize with these people, so she simply sat nearby.

Even if Liu Yulian didn't talk much to others, others would come to her on their own.

They were all just ordinary noble ladies, yet they became so powerful. The gap between people was really too big. They had no idea how Liu Yulian could be so powerful while they themselves were not.

Woohoo, they also want to become that strong and don’t want to be outdone by anyone.

But they just can't study those things, even if they want to. Some of them have recently been reading miscellaneous books, but they can't understand what those books are about.

They felt that those books were almost like heavenly books. The characters in them were obviously very common characters that everyone knew, but they just couldn't understand them.

"What kind of books does the princess usually read?"

“I read those books, but why can’t I understand?”

“These pastries taste good.”

"Can we borrow some books from your library?"

…

Those people were asking these questions. They just wanted to know if they could do the same as Princess Rongning.

They were not Cen family girls, so not many people thought that Princess Rongning was bad. Princess Rongning was so powerful that they were all envious. Not everyone could achieve the same level as Princess Rongning.

Not to mention those women, just talk about some men, none of those men can reach the level of Princess Rongning.

"You can borrow books from the library over there. As long as you return the books, there won't be any problems." Liu Yulian couldn't possibly stop these people from borrowing books, but she didn't want the books to gather dust, so she had to let them look through them more. "If you like them, you can also have them copied down."

"Is it okay?" The girls were quite surprised. They thought they couldn't borrow books casually.

Some people don't want others to borrow their books casually, so they won't let anyone read them. This way they can better show how capable they are and know things that others don't. Especially for rare books, they are even more reluctant to lend them to others, and each of them cherishes them very much.

"Sure." Liu Yulian nodded. "If you go over there to borrow books, there's someone there to register. You have to write down what books you borrowed. Once you borrow a book, you have to return it within a month. If you don't return it within a month, you won't be able to borrow books next time. You can't borrow more than two books at a time."

Liu Yulian specifically told these people about this so they wouldn't think the servants from the library were making things difficult for them. Liu Yulian believed that a library should have rules. If there weren't any rules, people would borrow as many books as they wanted, and some would simply not return the books.

There's nothing good about this.

It would be a shame if the borrower didn't return the book and you had to urge him to do so.

Those people were powerful and influential, so how could the servants dare to urge them to return the books?

"Yes, yes, yes, it should be."

“Those books should be good.”

"I need to take a closer look."

"Can we also apply for graduate school then?"

…

Liu Yulian realized that these people's main purpose was the research institute. That's right, since she had no brothers of marriageable age to get married, nor any sisters to be engaged, they naturally cared more about the research institute. Liu Yulian just nodded.

"You can all take the exam. Whether you can pass depends on your results," said Liu Yulian.

"We really should look at the results." Miss Qin San said.

The Qin family has split up. The eldest master, the second master and others have split up, and they have also been given houses, not just the kind where you build a wall.

Master Qin wanted to prevent others from thinking that their separation was just a pretense. After all, they only built a wall, and they could leave a small door. They could still interact more without others knowing.

If they want others to think that they have completely separated, they have to act like they have completely separated.

The reason why Master Qin did that was because he didn't want others to think that he was on Miss Qin Si's side. Concubine Qin's arrogance was not supported by him behind the scenes.

The people in the capital were quite surprised by Master Qin's actions, but many people understood what Master Qin meant. The current emperor's empress died young, and the current crown prince would not allow a concubine to surpass the crown princess. Concubine Qin's family background itself was not as powerful as that of the former Concubine Cen.

Master Qin split up the family just to distance himself from the matter, so the actions of Miss Qin Si were her personal actions, the actions of Master Qin Er's family.

Miss Qin San was older than Liu Yulian, and she was due to be engaged. However, she decided to wait until after she took the entrance exam for the academy before considering an engagement. Her parents also agreed to this, so she wasn't worried about the difficulty of getting married then.

"Yes, different research teams need different people," Liu Yulian said. "Different subjects require different people."

"Yes." Miss Qin San and others said yes.

"I don't grade exams," Liu Yulian said directly. "I'm not responsible for setting the questions either. At most, I just give the usual practice questions."

Liu Yulian had said this long ago, and this was also to avoid Liu Yulian herself from being involved in those struggles. Liu Yulian was afraid that those people would come to her to gain connections, and she was not that smooth, so she might accidentally bring it up at any time.

She simply didn't talk about the questions in the graduate school exam, nor did she change the questions.

When the research institute team wants to recruit, they will create questions and put them together. Then they will see who is the most suitable.

Liu Yulian didn't know what would happen at that time, so she didn't say much.

Some girls just wanted to get some information out of Liu Yulian, but they didn't expect Liu Yulian to directly say that she was not responsible for setting the questions. But it didn't matter. Liu Yulian's irresponsibility was not necessarily a bad thing.

Those elders are more experienced. If Liu Yulian were to take charge, who knows what would happen.

Even so, Liu Yulian is the director of the institute.

Liu Yulian really felt that chatting with these people was tiring, and she didn't know what to say at all.

"That's good too." Someone said.

Since Liu Yulian had said that, they didn't feel comfortable asking any further.

The wife of Duke Chengguo and the wife of the Crown Prince of Duke Chengguo's mansion, Mrs. Mo, also came over. When Mrs. Mo saw that Liu Yulian was surrounded by so many girls, she did not go up.

"It seems that the princess is still very popular." Mrs. Mo sighed.

"Those people just want to see her because she is the director of the research institute." How could Lady Chengguo not know this? If Liu Yulian was just an ordinary princess, then others would definitely not surround Princess Rongning like this.

The daughters of the princes' families didn't have so many people around them, and not all of them could become princesses. For example, some of the concubines of the princes' families didn't have the status of princess, nor did they have the status of county lady or county lady.

There are more county ladies than princesses in the capital, and most of the princesses are daughters of the royal family.

"Yes." Mrs. Mo wasn't jealous. Princess Rongning was powerful enough, and that wasn't something anyone else could envy. Mrs. Mo was just envious. She didn't dream of becoming as powerful as Princess Rongning, but only wanted her own medical skills to be better.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Mo did not have such a high talent in medicine, she was just ordinary. She had studied medicine for so many years, but her skills were just mediocre.

After the banquet, Liu Yulian felt very tired. She just answered people's questions. How could she possibly know what they really wanted or what they were asking?

Those people left and Liu Yulian rubbed her neck.

This was more tiring than her research, and Liu Yulian couldn't leave them alone. As long as it wasn't something confidential, she would answer some of the questions.

Fortunately, not everyone came to Liu Yulian. Some people were not of such high status, so they stayed away from Liu Yulian.

"I don't know how to tell them." Liu Yulian sighed.

"That's all." Princess Zhaoyang said with a smile, "When they come here, it doesn't matter whether you say too much or not."

Princess Zhaoyang knew that those people now liked to please Liu Yulian, and each of them wanted to start with Liu Yulian, and they wanted to enter the research institute.

"Nanlu Academy has enrolled quite a few female students," Princess Zhaoyang said. "Didn't the Cen family's daughters withdraw earlier? They're a joke now."

The Cen family's daughters were exiled along with the rest of the Cen family. They weren't allowed to study at Nanlu Academy. Even if they hadn't dropped out, they couldn't stay there. These people had done all that for nothing, believing that women only needed to observe the Three Obediences and Four Virtues. But that wasn't the reality.

"It doesn't matter." Liu Yulian never cared whether others dropped out of school or not.

There was no nine-year compulsory education in ancient times, and there was no such thing as teachers looking for students to continue their studies.

Liu Yulian just wanted to study hard and didn't want to bother with those things. She didn't care what those women's colleges did, she didn't go to teach at women's colleges, and she wouldn't say whether she supported it or not. Studying still depends on the individual.

If individuals do not put in the effort, it will be of no use if others force them to study.

"Let's study hard." Liu Yulian said.

"That's right," Princess Zhaoyang said. "Don't worry about them. If those girls ask you again, you don't have to answer them if you don't want to. You are a first-rank official and the director of the academy. You should have some dignity."

"It depends on the situation." It was impossible for Liu Yulian to really go and put on airs.

When Liu Yulian was in the later world, she heard people say that some prominent scientists were very approachable. It wasn't that they had to put on airs just because they were powerful; that wasn't the case. They might have assistants around them to protect them, and that was perfectly normal.

At the Qin family, Miss Qin San followed Mrs. Qin back home.

"How do you feel?" asked Mrs. Qin.

"She knows how to research." Miss Qin San said.

Miss Qin San had no intention of joining the institute to replace Liu Yulian, as she couldn't. Princess Rongning didn't even bother with the institute's recruitment, didn't set the exams, and that was something Miss Qin San found incredible.

Princess Rongning is the director of the research institute, which means that Princess Rongning herself has great power.

"She didn't hold on to power." This was what shocked Miss Qin San the most.

Miss Qin San had never been a female official, but she knew that officials all liked to hold power. Not to mention officials, even the women in the harem all wanted to be in charge of the household and hold more power.

Back then, when the Qin family had not yet split up, didn't Second Madam Qin and the others want to interfere more in public affairs?

Miss Qin San saw it all, and she didn't know if Princess Rongning had other reasons for doing that.

"You don't need to worry about whether she holds power or not," Madam Qin said. "None of us know what's really going on at the research institute."

The institute had only been established for a short time when they realized that it was a great opportunity for women.

The institute is not involved in government affairs or military affairs; it is only responsible for research.

"Yes." Miss Qin San responded, "No matter what, we have to give it a try. I thought of going to Princess Rongning's library to borrow some books, regardless of whether those books are useful or not. Princess Rongning reads those books, so maybe they are useful. There is a library next to Princess Rongning's library, which also has a lot of books."

Miss Qin San was wondering what kind of topics the researchers would come up with, but they probably wouldn't be about writing any articles, so the test wouldn't be about literary talent.

"Go and take a closer look." Mrs. Qin said. She also hoped that her daughter could be admitted to the research institute.

At the Marquis of Jingning's residence, Liu Yulian wondered how the institute's exams were conducted. She created some practice questions, which she then combined with the other researchers' workbooks. Fearing that this wasn't enough, Liu Yulian considered creating a magazine similar to Into Science.

It’s just that many ordinary people are illiterate. They can’t read at all, and the most they can do is listen to what others say.

But it doesn’t matter. Liu Yulian plans to publish a science magazine about some interesting things, such as static electricity.

Liu Yulian told Princess Zhaoyang about this idea, "Someone has to do this specifically. I can't do it."

Publishing a magazine takes a lot of time, and Liu Yulian couldn't possibly put down her current work to work on it. It's not really appropriate to call it a magazine; this kind of book is a bit like an encyclopedia, compiled bit by bit.

Just like when Liu Yulian was doing research, she also wrote down the research steps, the things she needed, the details... She wrote all these things down. Then when other people go to do research, they can see the records made by Liu Yulian and produce what they need faster.

"If you can't do it, just don't do it." Princess Zhaoyang certainly knew that Liu Yulian couldn't do so many things at once.

Even though Liu Yulian sometimes just stays at home and seems to be doing nothing, in fact, Liu Yulian still needs to read and think.

Princess Zhaoyang didn't know how to research, and she knew she didn't understand, so she didn't need to say much. What she had to do was to cooperate, not to command.

At the Duke of Cheng's Mansion, He Xiyuan had wanted to see Liu Yulian more today and talk to her more, but Liu Yulian was surrounded by so many girls that He Xiyuan couldn't go up to her.

Boys and girls are not allowed to sit at the same table after they are seven years old. When the Marquis of Jingning’s mansion entertains guests, boys and girls are separated.

He Xiyuan was only thinking about how talkative those people were, and he didn't even find a chance to talk more with Liu Yulian.

"What's wrong?" Old Madam He came to see He Xiyuan and saw that her grandson looked rather listless.

"Nothing." He Xiyuan said, "I didn't even say a few words to Sister Lian today."

"You can go over there tomorrow." Old Madam He thought something had gone wrong. Liu Yulian was there anyway, so her grandson could just go over there. "This is the first banquet held by the Marquis of Jingning's Mansion since returning to the capital. There will be a lot of people, right?"

"Yes, there are a lot of people, and they like to talk to Sister Lian." He Xiyuan said, "Sister Lian's face is almost frozen from smiling."

He Xiyuan knew that Liu Yulian didn't like talking to so many people, and Liu Yulian didn't like talking for long periods of time. Unfortunately, He Xiyuan couldn't go up to them, and he couldn't stare at them all the time, so he could only talk to someone else.

When they were in the northwest before, He Xiyuan had not felt so difficult. After they returned to the capital, He Xiyuan could not live in the Jingning Marquis Mansion, and he and Liu Yulian had to be more careful when they met.

At the Su family, Madam Su didn't make things too difficult for Su Qiuya, nor did she deliberately ask the kitchen to cook less for her. It was just that Madam Su didn't tell the servants to shut up, and some of them were gossipy, and one of them was talking about Su Qiuya.

"I've heard of bringing a husband back to his parents' home, but I've never heard of bringing a concubine or mother-in-law back to her parents' home."

"That's right, she's just a concubine, not the principal wife. How can you have the nerve to bring her here?"

"He's here to take advantage of me, right?"

…

Aunt Qing heard what the servants said and she was very dissatisfied. As a guest of the Su family, it was not easy for her to rush over and criticize the servants, so she went to talk to Su Qiuya.

"Yes, we are just collecting money now." Su Qiuya nodded, "Those servants can say whatever they want to say, and it's better if they say more. That way, I can talk more with my father. Is this still my mother's family, or is he thinking of me and asking my grandfather to bring my mother's dowry list to take a look."

Su Qiuya had married in a hurry, and the Su family originally wanted to marry her stepmother's daughter. Su Qiuya now wanted to take those things back, and they could also protect them.

"It's good that you have your own ideas." Aunt Qing felt ashamed. Who would have thought that Su Qiuya didn't care about what the servants said.

"Yeah." Su Qiuya said, "Don't be angry. Living under someone else's roof, it's inevitable that you won't be bullied."

“…” Aunt Qing was upset. They should move out quickly.

But now that they have come to the Su family, Su Qiuya can't move out at will.